HARARE – The Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) is pleased to announce that Norman Mapeza has been appointed as the interim head coach of the men’s Zimbabwe national team, for the upcoming four-nations tournament in Malawi.
The tournament which will be played in Lilongwe from the 18th-26th of March, features hosts Malawi, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
It’s not the first time Mapeza has been asked to perform the role of Zimbabwe’s caretaker coach. He was in charge of the Warriors at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
Mapeza is the current head coach of Zimbabwe Premier League side FC Platinum with whom he has won multiple league titles. He is also a former national team captain and has had several stints as head coach of the men’s senior national team.
He will be assisted by Ngezi Platinum Stars head coach, Takesure Chiragwi.
Zifa’s statement makes it clear that the former national team captain will only take charge of the Warriors for the Malawi trip, not the country’s two World Cup qualifiers against Lesotho and South Africa in June. Zimbabwe were under the guidance of Portuguese Baltemar Brito for last November’s qualifiers against Rwanda and Nigeria, but Brito’s caretaker tenure was not extended after the Brazil-born mentor was released by local club side Highlanders, who initially hired him.
The temporary committee currently running the affairs of Zimbabwe’s football federation says it cannot appoint a substantive coach because its term will expire in June.
Source: Zifa Media/ SportsCast
